Manure-spreader.



No. 820,'653. PATENTED 1v1-M15, 1906. 0.1?. LEE.`

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLIUATION FILED 00T.1l. 1905.

2 SHEETSTSHEET l.

Attorney's No. azos.

PATBNTBD MAY 15, 1906 o. P. LEE. MANURB SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.11, 1905..

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 Witnesses Attorneys .unir are arance orrren.

vCHARLES r. LEE, or Asronni, iLLINors, Assienon or cnn-naps ro 1 JOHN B. Hansis, or Asroani, immers,

' MANUREESPRQEDER.

Specification of Letters Ii'atent.

atented May 1.5, 190%.

Application tiled Octoliei` lll, 17965, Serial No. 282,294.

To r11/ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that 1, CHARLES F. LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Astoria, in the county of Fulton and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Manure- Spreader, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to manure-spreaders, and among the principal objects of the invention are the promotion of simplicity, durability, and general elliciency in the construction and operation of this .class of devices. ,1' l..

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the inventionis better understood, the same consists in the improved construction andnovel arrangement and combination of parts, whichwill be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In 'the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however7 understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise-structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the invention may be made when desired. l

ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved fertilizer-distributor. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View taken on the plane indicated by the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, enlarged, taken through the driving means for the distributing-cylinder. Fie. L is a side elevation, enlarged and partly in section, illustrating the feeding mechanism.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughoutby similar characters of reference. i

The improved manure-spreader of the present invention comprises a specially-constructed wagon-box which may be mounted for operation upon the running-gear of any ordinaryfarm-wagon, thus reducing the initial cost of the device and producing a device which requires much less roem for storage than adevice of this class mounted uponl its own running-gear. 'i

In the several igures of the drawings, A designates a box or receptacle which is of the .general shape and outline of an ordinary l wagon-box, comprising the side members 1 1 .1nd the front member 2. The side melmbers '1 v1 are provided upon their inner sides near their lower edges with bottom supportingflanges 3, connected by cross -braces 4 a., which in turn are connected by a longitudinal brace 5. Beneath the flanges 3 3 are auxiliary flanges 6, serving to support the lower lead of the flexible bottomwhile the `box is being unloaded. The flanges 3 are mutilated at intervals for the accommodation of rollers 7.

The bottom B of the receptacle is coniposed of a plurality of transverse strips 8 S, secured upon and connected by flexible meml bers, such as straps 9, the ends of which are "connected by chains 10, passing over sprocketwheels 11 upon a shaft 12, supported for rotation at the front end of the box. The ilexible members and chains of the bottom are also guided over guide-rollers 13 upon a shaft 14 near the rear end of the box. The side members of the latter are also provided with bearings for a guide-roller 1'5, which supports the lower lead of the ilexible connecting members of the bottom and guides the strips of which the latter is composed bnto the supporting-flanges 6.

. The box or receptacle front bolster 16, which is spaced beneath the side members 1 1 bymeans of blocks 17, so as not to interfere with the `operation of the flexible bottom and related parts. This bolster is provided with stakes 18 adjacent to the sides of the box or receptacle, and when the box is mounted upon a running-gear in position for operation the bolster 16 is supported upon the front bolster of such running-gear so that the box or receptacle of the present invention will be somewha tilted in a downward and rearward direction to facilitate the discharge of the load. Tie side members of the device are also provided uponl their under sides with shouldered blocks 19, adapted to engage the rear bolster of the running-gear, as will be seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. p

IThe flexible bottoni B is provided at its forward extremity. with an upstanding shield 20, forming a movable front closure to confine the contents of the receptacle while the latter is being unloaded. A. movable 'tailgate 21 is also provided, said tail-gate being provided with cleats 21', pivotally engaging the crank 25 of a crank-shaft 22, which latter is mounted in bearings '23 upon the upper' edges of the side members 1 1 of the box or A is provided with a' :receptacle One end of the crank-shaft provldedwith an auxiliar r crank ".24, which is `iormejl at an angle to the tailgate-supporting crank 25, the side members of the latter when the gate is in a closed positionv being-'accomm'odated in recesses 26 upon the inner 1 sides of the side members 1, while the crank tending teeth 29.

24 extends above the upper edges of said side members. The means for operating the adjustable tail-gate will be presently more fully described.

The side members 1 1 of the box or receptacle ere provided near their rear ends with bearings for the shaft 27 of a distributing-cylinder 28, which is provided with ra dially-ex- The shaft 27 carries a. pinion 30, meshing with a spur-wheel 31 upon ,a shaft 32, which also carries a sprocket-wheel 33, driven by means of a chain 34 from a s rocket-wheel 35, which is clamped detachably upon one of the hind wheels of the running-gear upon which the device mounted for operation. The gearing will obviously be made of such proportions as to cause the distributing-cylinder to be rotated at any dosired speed.

yThe shaft 32, which carries the spur-wheel 31 and the sprocket-wheel 33, is supported in a. suitable bracket or bearing 36. "lhe spur- Wheel 3 1 is fast upon the shaft, and the hub thereof is provided with a clutch member 37, adapted to be engaged by a clutch member 3S u onthe hub of the sprocket-wheel 33, whic latter is loose upon the shaft and is normally forced in the direction of the spur- Wheel by the action of a spring 39. The hub of the s rocket-wheel has a collar 40, between w ich and the sup sorting-bracket 36 is interposed a slotted slide 41, the engaging portion of which is .wedge-shaped, as shown at 42 in Fig. 1 of the drawings, so that by driving the wedge-shaped slide between the collar of the sprocket-wheel and the bearing the former will be pushed outward against the tension of the spring 39, and the clutch members 37 and 3S will become disengaged, so that sprocket-wheel 33 will rotate idly upon the shaft 32.

The upper end of the slide 4l is connected pivotally with the crank 24, and the slide 41 1s connected pivotally at an intermedia te .point with the rear end of a link or connectlng-.rod 43, the front end of which is pivotally connected with one end of a bent lever 44, which is pivoted upon one side of the box or receptacle near the front end of the latter, so as to be ca able'of being readily manipulated by the driver or operator. The latter y manipulating the lever 44 may pull the slide 41 in a forward direction, thus permitting the s ring 39 to move the sprocket-wheel 33 until t e clutch members 38 and 37 are in engagement. l By the same operation the upper end ofthe slide 41 will oscilla-te the crank- -,shaft carrying the tail-gate 2l, thus causing said gate to be elevated to the position shown 1n dotted lines in Fig'. 2- of the drawings, inv

which position it is elevated above the load and is capable of swinging freely, so as not to interfere with the unloading operation. By operating the lever 44 in the opposite direction the wedge-shaved slide 'will be driven forwardly between t ie collar of the sprocketwheel 33 and the bearing' 3o', thus throwing the driving mechanism for the distributingcylinder out of gear.

For the purpose of operating the flexible movable bottom member of the device the shaft 12 is provided with a ratchet-wheel 45 and with a pawi 46, having side members 47 straddling the ratchet-wheel and provided with slots 48, slidably engaging the shaft. lt will be observed that when the pawl member is rocked in one direction it will ride over the ratchets 49,01i the wheel 45, while by rocking the pawl member in the opposite direction the ratchet-wheel will be rotatedto the extent of one or more teeth or ratchets, according to the extent of the oscillatory movement of the pawl. The latter is provided with an upward-extending arm 50, having a plurality ol' apertures 51, any one of which is adapted for pivotal engagement with a l' 1k-rod 52, terminating in a loop or strap 53, engaging an eccentric disk 54 upon la shaft 55. The latter carries a sprocket-wheel 56, which is connected by a chain 5? with one of the units or members of a cone-sprocket 53, which is clamped d etacha bly upon one of the hind wheels of the running-gear in connectionwith which the invention. is used. By using a cone-sprocket, as shown, the invention may be successfully applied to and used in connection with running-gears having transpciting-wheels of various sizes or diameters.

Supported pivotally in one of the side .members 1 of the box or receptacle is a shaft 60, having at its outer end a crank 51 and at its inner end an arm 62, which latter is located in the path of the lcwerlead ol the ilexible bottom member of the device. The crank 5]. is connected by a retracting-spring with a iixed point, whereby said crank is normally held in contact with a pin or stud 3, the spring 64 exerting its tension upon the IOS crank to hold the free end of thelatter in a lowered position and out of engagement with the link-rod 52, while the arm 62 is located in the path of the movable bottom in the position shown in Fig'. 4 of the drawings. W'hen the arm G2 is struck by the movable bottom, and thereby moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig'. 4, the shaft 60 will be oscillated until the tension of the spring' 64 maybe eX- erted to turn it until the crank 61 strikes the under side of the link-rod 52, thus elevating the latter and the pawl member connected therewith until said pawl member is supported out of possible engagement with the.'

.ratchet-wheel -45, the pawl member being upon the crank 61.

A lever 66, which is -fulcrumed upon one side of the receptacle, is bifurcated at its lower end, as shown at 67, to engage the crank 61, which may thus be operated by the driver or operator Whenever it shall be desired to stop the operation of the feed mechtnim prior to the discharge of the entire oa One extremity of the shaft 12 is squared for the reception of a crank-handle 68, whereby it may be rotated for the purpose of restoring the bottom of the device to load-receiving position after a load has been discharged.

In the operationof this invention the shaft 12 is rotated until the front end of the bot-- tom B is moved to a point at which the shield or gate 20 lies in contact with the front gate 2. The load-receiving portion of the bottom is now supported upon the ange's 3 and upon the framework 4 and 5, which is of sucient strength to support the load which may be piled upon the bottom. While the box or receptacle is being loaded the movable tail-gate is in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings in full lines, it-being also understood that when the tail-gate is in this position .the driving-gear ofthe distributingcylinder is thrown out of operation by the wedge-shaped slide 41. Vhile the wagon is being loaded and while it is beingdriven to the vfield where the manure is to be spread the shaft is turned to a position in which the crank 61 will support thelink 52 in a raised position, thus holding the pawl 46 out of engagement with the ratchet-wheel 45. When loaded, the device may be driven to the point of discharge, after which the lever 44 is ma- Anipulatedto swing the tail-gate to an .unobstructing position the slide 41 being simultaneously withdrawn to a position at which the clutch members 37 and 38 may engage each other, thus causing motion to be transmitted from one of the trans])citing-wheels ofthe running-gear to the distributing-cylinder, which latter as it rotates loosens the fertilizing material and scatters it over the ground, it being understood that the lever 66 is simultaneouslyoperated to oscillate the shaft 60 and to place the crank 61 in the position shown in Fig. 4, where 41t will not interpawl member at various distances from the shaft upon which the pawl member rocks.- 5 As already stated, the feed mechanism may be thrown out of gear at any moment by means of the lever 66, but it will be thrown porting-flanges upon said receptacle, a flexible bottom, supporting means for the same, a front bolster connected permanently with the receptacle andspaced from the under A edges of the side members of the receptacle and shouldered blocks secured upon the under edges of the side members and adapted to engage the rear bolster of a running-gear.

2. In a manure-spreader having a traveling bottom, a shaft having a crank, a. taill gate suspended upon said crank, an auxiliary crank extending from the crank-shaft at an angle to the gate-supporting crank, an operating-lever, and a link-rod vconnected with said lever; in combination with a' movable member connecting the end of the link-rod with the auxiliary crank.

3. In a manure-spreader having a traveling bottom, a chstribating-cylinder supported for rotation, driving means for said cylin-` der including a pair of clutch members, a slidable wedge member movable between the clutch members, a shaft having a crank, a tail-gate supported uponsaid crank, an auxiliary crank upon said shaft having pivotal connection with the slidable wedge member, an operating-lever, and a link connecting said lever with the slidable wedge member to simultaneously. operate sai(l we lge and the crank-shaft with which it is4 connected.

4. In'a manure-spreader, a traveling bottom including endless flexible members, supporting-shafts for the endless members, a ratchet -wheel on one of the supportingshafts, a gravity-pawl slidably engaging the shaft andthe ratchet-wheel, an eccentric-rod connected with the pawl, a shaft having a crank adapted to engage the eccentric-rod to elevate the pawl from engagement with the ratchet, spring means for holding the crank out of engagement with the eocentricrod, and an arm extending from the crank-shaft in the path of the lower lead of the traveling bottom.'

[n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto allixed my signature in the presence of-two witnesses.

' CHARLES F. LEE. Witnesses:

SIDNEY C. BALDEY, WM. TnnGELL/is. 

